Monday, April 30, 2012

Surprise!! We made it through the first week. Here are some highlights:

The best part about this week was:

Knowing delivery was over and she was in our arms safely. The feeling of mystery was gone, the fear of being pushed off a cliff had vanished. We knew her, finally.

Some things we've learned:

The best things in life are worth the wait.

As cheesy as it sounds, the ol' saying, "A baby fills the spot in your heart that you never knew was empty" couldn't be more true.

We have been blessed with the most incredible support network. Our family and friends are simply extraordinary. The encouragement we have received from everyone, from people we have known for months to dear friends from past seasons of our lives, has been mind blowing.

You can't pick up and go when you have a baby.

Some things we've learned the hard way:

Breast feeding is an art that requires much patience and practice.

Olivia loves:

Snuggling!

Eating!

Pooping!

Being burped by her Daddy!

Olivia surprised us when:

She was born with more inches than pounds.

We saw she looked just like her Mom from the neck up and her Dad from her neck down. (Except for the obvious, of course. We laughed throughout the pregnancy about the possibility of ending up with an Oliver which is why we painted the nursery marigold rather than bubblegum pink...).

We had to wake her up at night to feed her--she's a great sleeper so far.

Friday, April 20, 2012

This has been a long time coming! We had a blast putting this room together, and it is by far my favorite in the house. The paint color is definitely a little more mustardy than I have been able to capture, but you get the general idea!

I envisioned a space for our girl that reflected us, but also gave her room to be herself. Not too girly, modern, or whimsical, it is just the way we imagined it.

We spent about three months pulling the different elements together, and purposefully so--we spread the nursery budget over a few months of income, but also wanted to have plenty of time to scour the deals and find used items.

The majority of the time and budget went to this built-in. Ben did an incredible job implementing exactly what I had in mind. It definitely adds depth to the room, and works like a charm to efficiently use up the dead space made by the angled wall. The baskets hold all of her clothing, and the bin to the left stashes taller items.

This angle is taken from the window over the built-in.

We couldn't be happier with our crib! It was the floor model from Sugar Snap Pea (www.sugarsnappea.com), a local children's boutique here in Charleston on King Street. Right now, we have it set up as a bassinet, but it comes with the parts to turn into a full-sized crib when we are ready for the transition a few months down the road.

We found the Ikea chair at a yardsale for $15 bucks, after a long and grueling search for a cheap glider that wasn't totally maw maw. It is comfy and will hopefully be a good option for nursing. Ben threw the table together last week with materials he had left over from the built-in. Brilliant! You can also get a glimpse of the rug in the room, which was also given to us. So many blessings can be found in this room.

I love how the window looks out over the side yard. There is a huge oak tree right outside her window.

Cue the adorable photos of her parents, before we hit the awkward middle school years please. These were both taken around the same time, when I was two and Ben was four. Awww.

This was part of one of our baby showers, all of the guests wrote a blessing and hung it on her tree.

Another adorable shower gift we received was the pink piggy bank on the far right. Our sweet friends wrote pieces of advice on cards and deposited them in the pig--I will look there for encouragement very soon!

Another view of the lamp my sister and I painted, and the side table Ben built.

Tucked in the corner by the doorway is this tiny little school desk that came from Ben's parent's garage. I'm sure there is a story behind it, but Ben remembers using it as a child--so we were excited to have a spot for it in O's nest. Oh yeah, and that's "Teddy", given to Ben when he was wee little, by his brother and sister.

Her closet is jammed full of stuff that isn't hers, but at least there's room for her dresses!

We were so excited to choose scripture to claim over her life, and can't wait to teach her all about the Jesus who gives us freedom and life.

Thank you thank you Naptime Diaries for the awesome sales that afforded us the chance to hang some beautiful words in this room!

Here is the built-in mystery compartment, that will eventually be used for toys and blankets. Right now it is FULL of diapers and wipes. Woohoo!

I wanted to give a more detailed view of the top of the built-in...this is the seam of the secret compartment. I may be a little biased, but I am so proud that Ben made this for his girl.

I found these pillows at Costco, and couldn't believe how well they coordinated with the curtains (from World Market)!

We have purposefully saved the space above the changing table and dresser to fill with something thoughtful and fun. We just aren't sure what we want to place there--maybe a big print of some kind or a montage of photos of Olivia. Who knows! The changing table was given to us by longtime friends about six months ago, and Ben knew that would be its purpose from the first second. We couldn't have found anything better or more meaningful.

The lighting is really terrible in this room, so we are still on the hunt for a floor lamp to place next to the changing table.

Now all we need is the babygirl to make it perfect. Which is really all we needed in the beginning. All of these things are just extras!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Not that it matters, but we really had a feeling Olivia would be early. The nature of what Ben does for a living doesn't allow much flex for taking time off on a whim, so he went ahead and took off two full weeks and a weekend. The two weeks will wrap up this Friday.

Needless to say, he has had QUITE a bit of free time. We very rarely have weekends together, so this weekend we knocked out a bunch of little projects that wouldn't break the bank---to the tune of using paint and materials we already had, minus three $1 cans of spray paint.

A dear friend gave us several lamps awhile back, and we hadn't put all of them to use quite yet. While transitioning the guest room/gear wasteland to the nursery, we knew that we could use them somewhere. This black and red lamp fit the bill perfectly, and a coat of slick white paint would wrap it nicely with the rest of the nursery decor.

My sister helped me with this project! We had about a half of a can of primer, so we used that without sanding, hoping it would stick. It did the trick, and then we painted the remainder with a cheapo can of glossy white spray paint. I love the way it turned out! Crisp and clean. Just what we needed!

PS-This photo is cryptic for a reason--nursery reveal coming TOMORROW!!

These gems were given to me by my sister Rachel, who picked them up years ago at a flea market near my Grandma's house. She and her husband just moved to Florida, and I'm pretty sure I ended up with them because he wouldn't let them on the moving truck. Ben was NOT too keen on letting these in the house, but I told him that he had to give them a chance!

Halfway through, I wasn't sure I was on board. I decided to finish them up and see what we ended up with, if not it was just one can of spray paint wasted between the pair.

I think they jive really well with the hazy purple walls that we are doing in our bedroom (pardon our progress...). We are still piecing all of it together (Ben is currently making nightstands to replace the road cases), so we will see how they look when we get things more unified.

I saw this idea in a magazine, and tried to modify it a little bit. TRIED.

This is the vase I use to store my spoons and spatulas, next to the stove.

We had a bunch of paint left over from painting the kitchen walls (the gallon of light grey on the right), and a few other miscellaneous colors that coordinate well with our yellow and grey kitchen.

I basically just slopped the different colors on the inside of the vase, and let it dry upside down between colors.

If I could do it over, I would have just used one solid color and coated the entire inside. Oh well! The vase was cracked to begin with, so I will just use it until I come across something else to use.

We found both of these chairs six months apart at the Daniel Island yardsale, and paid five bucks for each one. They have sat untouched forever, so I was pretty excited to get this very easy project finished.

Ben did about three coats total, while I sat on the front porch swing. My favorite project yet!

It really pops off the front porch! Let's hope nobody steals it!

We have so much fun looking around the house for little jobs that we can knock out that don't take much from the budget.

Come back tomorrow for the long-awaited nursery post. For as much as I have hyped it up, I sure hope you guys love it as much as we do!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Seeing constant reminders, in hilariously real ways, of this new little life that will be here very soon, Lord willing!

Being blessed, constantly, by my husband.

Words cannot express the incredible man that God has given me, for such a time as this. Pregnancy has changed our marriage in so many ways, and I am so thankful that Ben has taken this time to lead and challenge our growth together. I just can't begin to detail how blown away and captivated I am by this man.

"Begin as you mean to go."

Getting ready for guests! We are seriously stocked up on paper goods. As in, it would be a crime against humanity to bring another roll of toilet paper or paper towels into this house.

Piling on the dry shampoo. Because being stuffed into a small bathroom with a hair dryer and straightener isn't something that any woman wants to do, much less this increasingly warm-natured woman.

Taking lots and lots, and lots of walks. This particular one took me as close to a jellyfish as I hope to ever be...and it was dead.

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About Me

We are two newlyweds who were married on December 10, 2010 in the city where we met, Charleston, SC. We live in a little bungalowcottagehouse with our black lab, Hank, and our baby on the way, Olivia. We are enjoying life one day at a time, living out God's beautiful plan for our family!